Hope I'm still welcome here

[Nightrage]

Unfortunately, my Trans Am bit the bullet. There was a blown gasket in either my head or intake manifold, coolant leaked in and caused the motor to hydrolock. Game over. It was running fine one day, then the next I started it up and it was shaking pretty badly. Got it to the mechanic and it was basically too late. I'm going to have her towed back to my house to take a front row seat in the driveway. I was pondering what to do and since winter is coming and gas prices are still astronomical, I decided I'm going to put it on the back burner, at least for now. Whether I'm going to sell it or fix it, I'll decide on down the road.

For now however, I've picked up a 94 Del Sol Vtec. I carfaxed it and everything is straight (btw, if anyone needs something Carfaxed, just give me the VIN and I'd be happy to run it for you). It's a legit Vtec, fully optioned, but it needs some work. It has 190k miles on it, 60k on the motor, new clutch and runs and shifts like a dream. It does have a cracked windshield however, plus a lot of the weatherstripping, the shocks, struts, and springs are going to have to be replaced. The hood doesn't line up with the fenders, but I already know it was in an accident. Not salvaged, fixable stuff. Aside from that, if it passes emissions, I picked up a beautifully running Del Sol Vtec for $2300, all with a Carfax buyback guarantee. My coming weeks will be spent going to work, school, Jiu Jitsu, and going all over that car with a wire brush, a bottle of acetone and some rags. I'll post up the pictures when I drive the car home. For now, I'm going to have it shipped to my mechanic to have it inspected, run it for emissions, then to the body shop to fix what needs to be fixed.

I'll have to see what the future holds for my poor Trans Am.

[Trash man]

as long as u dont rice it out, its all good but damn dude, $2300 for a 190K del slow? even with all that wrong i wouldnt have paided more then 1500 for it. but thats just me

[Nightrage]

It's not the base Del Sol. The Vtec is pretty rare, especially a fully optioned one. Most are Del Sol S's or Si's.

[Injuneer]

Had to be a head gasket that caused the hydrolock. There is no coolant in or near the LT1 intake manifold.

[wolfdogs]

u suk. take a hike......bite me....... go pound sand...........















thats awful, broh.

[Steel2686]

Sweet!

A fellow VTEC owner!

Sorry about the T/A. Just take your time thinking about it. Don't rush into a decision.

[Nightrage]

Sweet!

A fellow VTEC owner!

Sorry about the T/A. Just take your time thinking about it. Don't rush into a decision.

I'm thinking I might do some bolt ons to give it some pep. Where it stands, it'd need a turbo just to be slow. I think they run the 1/4 stock in 15.8. That's bad news.

As for the big red machine, it's sitting comfortably in the driveway. I'm hoping to keep it there until I have the money to give it a heart transplant. I hate to say it, but you guys are right. I don't even want to think about selling it. I always figured I'd just drop it at the first chance I got, but I have to admit, it's a pain in the ass, a lot of stuff needs to be fixed on it, but there's just something about it. It grew on me. It really did. I guess I'll get a cover for it, go outside and hit it with Armor All every so often and maybe eventually I'll get a good deal on a motor. It always bothered me that it didn't have t tops, but now that I have the Del Sol that's not even an issue anymore. I'm thinking that since it's going to need a motor swap, I'll take the time and do things right. I'll strip it down and make it more performance oriented. Give it a nice Spohn k member, pull the A/C, heat, whatever adds weight and isn't necessary. I've been through basically the hottest, most humid Summer days New York has to offer without air conditioning, so pulling it won't be a problem. It won't be driven in the winter, so the heat can go. We'll see what the future holds. I can't see myself being able to let her go.

[ConElite]

Yeah even with VTec and all the issues your claiming that thing is worth about $1000. You can Get a shell for $500 and swap a DOHC B-Series and trans into it for about $1500.

Thats to much money. If you want to make it a little quicker, just do some small mods, but unless you swap the engine, you wont make it at all fast.

15.8 in the 1/4? That was Stock with a pro. Driver and No Miles. Your looking at 17's maybe high 16's.

Other than that, It should be a reliable car once you fix it up. I would recommend just fixing up the suspension. My honda used to be a pretty damn good canyon carver for what it was.

[Joe 1320]

Hey, you're always welcome. if you remember, I had a honda for a bit. I realized my error and promptly dumped it.

Sorry, couldn't resist.


VTEC= Very Tired Econo Crate




You'll get over it. I will say though, great on gas mileage. I did hate the integrity of the sheetmetal and paint. It would chip easily and rust quickly. The metal seemed quite thin.compared to other cars. Some parts were pretty darned expensive too.

[raroZ28]

thats too bad about the red beast man. I hope it all works out for you. Too bad you didn't catch it before it seized up. Head gasket is cake man.

And as far as 2300 being too much... I do agree that's not a really good deal, but I will say around here 4 cylinder econo boxes have gone down in supply, and the demand is through the roof and they're going for top dollar, if you can find one, and the v8's aren't worth anything.

I may have gotten 6000 for my car last year, but I would probably have to settle for 4k today, and then drop 6k on an old integra.

[96FirebirdFormula]

It's not the base Del Sol. The Vtec is pretty rare, especially a fully optioned one. Most are Del Sol S's or Si's.

My bro just got 94 Del Sol Vtec Supercharged for 2k. Targa top is cool part about them.

[Nightrage]

The Trans Am bought the farm a little while back. I've been searching for 2, maybe 3 weeks for a decent economy car with a manual transmission. Couldn't find anything. Nothing whatsoever for under $5,000. I found one Del Sol, loved it, carfaxed it and it came up salvaged and title washed. When I informed him, the owner wasn't too happy to hear that he bought a salvaged car without realizing it. I saw a Civic for sale, but the owner didn't list the transmission and never replied to my e-mail when I asked him. It's been rough finding something though. I didn't want an Accord, no Hyundais, no Kias, so I finally found this. I kinda wish I'd waited it out and gotten a Miata instead, but what the hell. I'm sure this can be made to handle pretty well, though obviously nowhere near as well as a Miata. Plus, I'm newly single and I'm sure the ladies will love the targa top

[Nightrage]

Would it be hard to make this thing outhandle my Trans Am?

[Mirroredshades]

There sure are alot of ricers around here.

[Nightrage]

What should I do here? Whatever motor I put in it is going to be modified. Should I pick up an LTX motor and drop it in? Or should I save up for an LSX swap? Obviously, the LTX will be cheaper, but an aluminum block is an awful lot of weight off the front end. I'd like to try and build this car up to my liking, which would also involve a weight distribution of as close to 50/50 as possible. Should I buy a cammed LS1, add a set of ported heads and a matching intake and supporting mods, or should I go for a stroked LT1 with aftermarket parts? How much would I have to change to swap over to an LS1? Aside from the transmission and motor mounts, is there a lot involved? I want to go with a tubular or chromoly k- member anyhow, so that's not an issue.

Shades, what year is that NSX? And how do you like it (stupid question)? You must get a ton of looks in that thing.